


Playing Along

by deadly_poison



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Emotional Manipulation, F/F, Fluff, Hugging, One Shot, Short One Shot, aquamarine loves topaz but she's in denial and Bad At This, blackmail mention, but dysfunctional fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-06
Updated: 2017-09-06
Packaged: 2018-12-24 17:51:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 802
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12017967
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/deadly_poison/pseuds/deadly_poison
Summary: After they come back to Homeworld, Aquamarine and Topaz have a talk.





	Playing Along

Aquamarine mindlessly hovered in the hallway, waiting for the Topazes to come back. Knowing that they were one report away from being shattered made her uneasy, for some reason she couldn’t pinpoint.  
Covering for Topaz had been a stupid idea. Right now, she couldn’t think of anything she could blackmail her into doing. Topaz already did what Aquamarine ordered her to do, every time.  
A familiar thud echoed in the hallway, pulling her away from her thoughts. Topaz stared at her. Aquamarine was unusually silent. She hated how this situation was messing with her head.  
“You can fuse now.”  
They didn’t speak again until their next mission, which came earlier than Aquamarine would have wanted. 

“Did you mean what you said?” It was the first thing the Topaz fusion asked when she walked into the spaceship.  
The faint glow of the spaceship made Aquamarine notice a hint of sadness had showed up on Topaz’s face.  
“Yes. I have completely forgotten your little act of treason.”  
“I'm glad, but... I wasn’t talking about that.”  
“Oh.” Aquamarine raised an eyebrow, waiting for the other Gem to go on.  
“I thought… After all these years, you’d care about me a little.”  
“I don’t really want you around only because you do your job well.” Aquamarine lied. Or told the truth? She had no idea now.  
She’d always known that the Topaz fusion would become too emotional to keep doing her job properly.  
She’d known she would have to shatter her. She had actually been happy to know that one day, she would no longer have to share the credit for completing a mission. But, over time, she’d gotten used to her. When it had come down to it, she couldn’t do it.  
“I care about you… I like you” Topaz said. ‘I know you care about me, too, or I’d be dead, or worse, half dead’ went without saying.  
Aquamarine didn’t answer. She wasn’t surprised that Topaz’s sentimentalism had caused Topaz to feel something for her too. However, she didn’t expect her to be so direct.  
She didn’t like how she was feeling. And, wherever this was going, it wasn’t where she wanted it to go. She had to make this stop.  
“Oh, great, so now I’m involved in this sappy business, too?” She snarled. “Well, I don’t want any part in it. I’ll make sure you are reassigned to-”  
Before she could finish the sentence, Topaz stood up and started to walk away, shaking her head.  
A shiver ran down Aquamarine’s spine.  
“Wait!” Aquamarine yelled, as she froze Topaz with her wand. “You’re supposed to say that you’re sorry and you’ll never say that again. After you do that, you can stay here, with me.”  
She didn’t want another Topaz. No other Gem was as… efficient as her. Of course, she usually didn't really need her help at all, but help was nice. Going on a mission without her would feel weird now. Besides, she was the best boss around, Topaz couldn’t really want to go on missions with someone else, could she?

“I already want to stay here, Aquamarine,” Topaz’s voice begun to waver “but you make it… way harder than it needs to be.” Then, Topaz started full on sobbing.  
Aquamarine’s eyes widened, she dropped her wand. It wasn’t the first time she’d heard those sobs, but it was the first time she’d seen them. It was probably the first time she'd caused them. Unlike her Diamond, she didn’t particularly enjoy crying. So, she tended to just _happen_ to never be in the same place as Gems who were bawling their eyes out. (The bawling seemed to happen pretty often, these days).  
Topaz was free to move now, yet she still stood there, crying.  
“I…” Aquamarine was at a loss for words, she didn't know what she was feeling, much less how to explain it. Nothing like this had ever happened to her. She had no idea how to make this stop. But, she very much wanted it to stop.  
She quietly flew towards the huge gem. She put a tiny gloved hand on her cheek, wiping away her tears. She just wanted that sentimental crap to stop, she just wanted things to go back to normal, really. And what better way to do that than to play along?  
“Come here, you big boulder” she huffed, awkwardly wrapping her arms around her head. She really didn’t know how to do this, and their size difference didn’t help.  
Topaz melted into her hug. A muffled “I love you” made it through the fabric of her skirt.  
Aquamarine’s head felt lighter than ever. She nodded, imperceptibly.  
She put her right hand on one of Topaz’s gems, slowly leaning in to place an uncertain kiss on the other gem.  
Yes, she was just playing along.

**Author's Note:**

> Soooo HOW is this is the first fic on ao3 for this ship? WHY???  
> Also, why would gems who have never lived among humans kiss one another? Who knows, but all the other ficwriters write it, so I’m doing it too.  
> Alternate title: Aquamarine’s "No Homo" journey of self discovery.


End file.
